STRENGTHS: Great reflexes. In his time, was considered one of the best one-on-one goaltenders in hockey. Quick glove hand. Thrives on pressure and big games.

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WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING:

"When General Manager Ted Lindsay signed Vachon, the NHL arbitrator made his infamous ruling that Dale McCourt should be the compensation paid the Los Angeles Kings for his loss. Lindsay, prior to that hearing, had offered utility forward Bill Lochead and James Earl Rutherford as the payment Los Angeles refused to accept." (The Hockey News [1979-]1980 Yearbook, p. 106)

Left game with head injury, December 31, 1978. With 12:21 remaining in the first period, Vachon was hit for twelve stitches under the left eye, and three stitches across the bridge of the nose, after taking a wrist shot off the stick of Pittsburgh's Peter Lee. Jim Rutherford finished the 3-1 loss for Detroit.

Left game with head injury, December 6, 1980. With fourteen seconds remaining in Boston's 4-1 loss in Montreal, Vachon was felled by a shot off the stick of Rejean Houle. The rebound went to Mario Tremblay, who finished the scoring into the open Boston net. The injury first appeared serious, but Vachon too six stitches to close a cut on the right side of his forehead and did not suffer a concussion. Jim Craig finished the game for the Bruins.

Left game with head injury, January 29, 1981. Midway through the second period, Vachon was struck in the mask by a Dave Christian slapshot and was visibly shaky thereafter. After Morris Lukowich scored at 7:20 of the third period, Vachon left in favor of Jim Craig.

Left game with arm injury, March 8, 1981. At the end of the first period, Vachon was taken to the hospital for x-rays of his left arm. "There's no fracture; it is just a muscle pull," Vachon said after the game. "I tried to poke-check the puck (on the Thomas Gradin goal 1:07 into the game), and fell on the shoulder - I felt it pull right away." Marco Baron finished the Bruins' 4-1 win over Vancouver.

NHL PENALTY SHOTS:

DATE

SHOOTER

GOAL?

NOTES

02/11/1971

Jude Drouin

N

MISCELLANEOUS:

I believe that the official National Hockey League totals for the 1980-81 Boston Bruins gave a Marco Baron victory on March 8, 1981 to Rogie Vachon instead. Vachon left the game 1:07 into the contest. My win-loss totals reflect this difference.

DID YOU KNOW?

To relax for games, Rogie would watch TV quiz shows to sharpen his mind and increase concentration.

Another of Rogie's nicknames is "Bono", due to his resemblace to Sonny Bono.

Whether starting or not, Rogie would always take the first warm-up prior to games.

Rogie would rewrap his stick after every period, and would not use his game stick in warm-ups or practices.

Between October 26, 1975 and November 1, 1975, Vachon registered a National Hockey League shutout streak of 184 minutes, 55 seconds. The streak covered shutout wins over Washington (16 saves) and Pittsburgh (21 saves). Atlanta's Bob Leiter broke the streak at 8:50 of the first period on November 1.

Following the Red Wings' 5-1 loss to Washington on January 19, 1979, Rogie was involved in a fight with Washington backup goaltender Bernie Wolfe.

Rogie's number #30 sweater was retired by the Los Angeles Kings on February 14, 1985, featuring a jersey presentation by captain Marcel Dionne. Vachon's number was the first retired in club history.

Game logs have been compiled using the best information that I can find; for a detailed list of known concerns, please click here. I am always looking for assistance in making these more accurate, and welcome your help. For the 1983-84 season and prior, one of my key sources was the Hockey Summary Project, a tremendous resource and one of the best data collections on the Internet. In return, I have attempted to make these data better where possible.